Identity cards: Blunkett threatens to sue for his money

Former home Secretary David Blunkett is considering suing the Government for the £30 cost of his identity card, after it wasannounced that holders of the documents will not be compensated when they are abolished.

Home Secretary Theresa May announced yesterday that the national

identity register will be scrapped within 100 days, and existing cards will become invalid.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Thousands of people are believed to have been issued with the identity cards.

Mr Blunkett, who announced plans for ID cards in 2003, dismissed suggestions that they formed part of a "surveillance state". The MP for what is now Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough, told BBC radio: "I have

got a card and it's very useful and I don't believe anyone has

surveilled anything about me.

"Unfortunately, nobody is getting their money back. I'm thinking of

suing them, but it might cost me more than 30."

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Mr Blunkett accused Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg of "exaggeration and hyperbole and self-deception" over the supposed intrusiveness of the national identity register.

He said scrapping the cards would make it harder for security services to fight terrorism and for the Government to tackle fraud.